Getting on/off a motorcoach; total driving about 12 miles, approximately 2 hours. Walking approximately 2.5 miles, walking and standing for up to 4 hours on field trips; paved city sidewalks. Entrance to Globe via ramp; some stairs on Bankside walk. Getting on/off a ship in dry dock using wooden stairs and ramp; Golden Hinde is not wheelchair accessible; steep stairs and low ceilings. Market and Cathedral are adjacent; our Group Leader will show us where to meet before we break for lunch.
In the hotel dining room, the breakfast buffet offers a variety of hot and cold items such as eggs, bacon, sausages, potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, cereals, toast, pastries, fruit, cold cuts, cheeses, yoghurts, juices, tea, coffee, water, milk.
At the hotel, our Study Leader will give an illustrated introduction to the Mayflower at 400 and the journey of the Mayflower Pilgrims. After our lecture we’ll board a motorcoach and ride to the St Paul’s Cathedral area, from where we’ll walk across the River Thames on the Millennium Footbridge to Bankside's cultural quarter. During the English Renaissance this area was home to poets and playwrights including Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare. We'll visit the original site of the Globe, and explore the fascinating exhibition at the reconstructed Theatre, which upon its completion in 1997 was the first thatch-roofed building permitted in London since the Great Fire of 1666. We’ll then walk past the Clink Prison, where those refusing to obey the religious laws of Elizabeth I were incarcerated, on our way to historic Borough Market where we’ll break for lunch. There has been a market on this site for more than a thousand years, as attested by a mention in a Norse saga of 1014 CE. For most of the 20th century, Borough Market served as London’s main wholesale food market. The market today is a hub of activity for artisan food producers from across the UK and beyond, and has a multitude of ever-changing street food stalls beloved by Londoners.
This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.
After lunch, we’ll explore impressive Southwark Cathedral, which overlooks the market. Here we’ll see the ledger stone commemorating William Shakespeare's brother Edmond who is buried near the cathedral, and the John Harvard Chapel, dedicated to the local boy who went on to endow Harvard University. We’ll continue on foot to the Golden Hinde, the full-scale replica of Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hind, the first English ship to circumnavigate the globe between 1577 and 1580. The replica galleon was built in the early 1970s using traditional methods and has itself sailed around the world, beginning with a transatlantic maiden voyage from England to California via the Panama Canal in 1975. As a three-masted hundred-foot sailing vessel, the Golden Hind was comparable to the Mayflower in size and layout, so as we explore this living history museum we’ll gain a sense of what life was like above and below decks for the Mayflower pilgrims on their voyage.
We’ll enjoy a 3-course plated and served dinner in the Anchor pub, close to Southwark Cathedral and London Bridge, with coffee, tea, water included; other beverages available for purchase. The Anchor is the sole survivor of riverside inns from Shakespeare's time, and from it, Samuel Pepys watched the Great Fire of London in 1666. The pub was destroyed by another fire and rebuilt in 1676. We’ll then return to the hotel on the motorcoach.
At leisure.
